


Luminous Meetings

by animatedrose



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: Attempted Sexual Assault, Awkward Sexual Situations, Bioluminescence, Heat Cycles, Lalotai (Disney), M/M, Maora is a mama's boy, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Season, Unresolved Sexual Tension, a crab wooing a lizard, monster love, poor Maora
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 22:21:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9144808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animatedrose/pseuds/animatedrose
Summary: Mating season has arrived in Lalotai and a lizard monster seeks refuge in his usual cave. Fate sees fit to destroy his shelter.Cue a bad choice of a temporary hiding place, an annoyed giant coconut crab, and some idle contemplation on bioluminescence.May continue this for the slashy content if people want more.*UPDATE* I guess I am continuing it since people like it???





	

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY NEW YEARS, PEOPLE!!
> 
> Just a dumb thing that popped into my brain thanks to a tumblr post I saw a bit ago: http://rockformed.tumblr.com/post/155022634415/hello-yes-awful-idea-anon-here-again-with-yet
> 
> BEWARE THAT THERE IS NSFW IN THE IMAGES BELOW THE ASK!! DO NOT SCROLL DOWN IF YOU AREN’T READY FOR THAT!!
> 
> Plus this dumb thing lets me make some use from my dumb Lalotai monster OC, Maora. Maybe I’ll do more with him if people want to see or learn more about him after this.
> 
> Mama = Hine-nui-te-po, the goddess of death and the underworld, which I’m treating as Lalotai since others have done so
> 
> Maora pronunciation = M-ow-rah

He had never slunk this far from his den site. He didn’t like abandoning the kelp forest that hosted his cave and the garden of night-blooming flowers that he’d painstakingly retrieved from the surface world. He didn’t relish the thought of any other monsters tromping through his home, wrecking the things Mama loved most.

It was his special place. He couldn’t let it get ruined. He had to protect it.

Which was exactly why he was leaving it right now.

His bioluminescent scales, eye-blindingly green, would draw in all sorts of monsters in pursuit of his scent. Mama loved his scales, the vibrancy of them when these pretty internal lights activated. Most creatures in Lalotai bore pink or blue or gold bioluminescence. He was one of only a handful that turned green. Perhaps he was even the last now.

He had no way to tell. He didn’t wander from his cave much anymore. He’d learned that painful lesson long ago thanks to a bad encounter with a giant crab monster. Part of his tail was gone now, never having fully grown back.

His cave and the kelp forest protecting it shrunk as he moved further from it. Every step was nerve-wracking. He’d seen so many monsters out here since his birth. Mama had protected him from most of them. He was her special beast, her pet, her child. Or so she called him.

Maora the 40-foot lizard, the baby of the goddess of Lalotai. That was him.

Just under the one thousand year marker in terms of age, he really was a baby compared to most of the creatures in Lalotai. Not that it mattered to him. He was young, he was fast, and he was adaptable. He had survived a thousand years. That was more than most could boast about.

Most didn’t survive their first mating season. Too many monsters tended to kill each other after coitus, if not mid-coitus.

Maora had been lucky. For the most part, he could slink to another cave far from his usual one and wait out his heat. Sure, some monsters came sniffing for him but he always found narrow crevices to stow away in to avoid such persistent suitors. It was a perk of being more long than wide. He could squeeze into places other beasts could not.

There it was! His heat cave! The name for it was probably obvious. This was its only function—to hide him during the few weeks of the year where he was vulnerable to others.

The lizard monster made for it as fast as his eight short but skinny legs could carry him. His scales flashed a brighter shade of green in response to his joy. He ducked into the darkness, a deep sniff promising that the only occupants were a few tiny scavengers that would make a perfect snack while he waited this out.

A flash of his needle-sharp teeth served as a prelude to his frantic snack hunt.

.o.o.o.o.

Maora watched another big beast lumber from the cave, disappointed and frustrated. It had been drawn here by his heat scent. Belly full of scavengers, he was content to lounge in his crevice. Having a full stomach was a good way to ward off any interest in witnessing the brilliant mating displays performed by other creatures that came looking for him.

Though the scents were alluring, he was good at resisting the charms of a perfumed scent.

In addition to his immunity to others’ charms, he had picked an excellent spot to lay and wait. The cave was full of bioluminescent green algae that matched the exact shade of his scales. If he simply flopped onto it, one could not really differentiate him from the algae unless they looked for the subtle flashing of his scales and the minor shade difference in his eyes, a softer green than his bioluminescent scales.

So there he lay, full and content, ignoring the itch in his scales and pelvis to search for a mate.

There were no others of his kind down in Lalotai. He was unique, crafted from Mama’s blood and the love in her heart. He was one of a kind, a unique specimen of a monster. To even imagine finding a creature to match him was preposterous.

Not that he had time to pine for such a thing. He had Mama, who loved him so much and visited him often. He had no time to be lonely.

That’s what made these few weeks so frustrating to Maora. Mama left him alone during this time. He had to fend for himself against everything else in the realm, all while ignoring a primal urge within him that he barely understood. Not only was he pining for something he could never have, he had to be entirely alone throughout it.

It was truly a tiring ordeal for him.

Scents came and went as beasts lurked around his cave, trying to find him. Each scent was stronger and thicker than the last, blasting their mating messages into his brain. It was bothersome to sort through them all.

Maora shifted and closed his eyes. He would sleep. If he slowed his internal systems down, maybe he could just nap away these next few weeks. He would be vulnerable but it would make the time go by faster.

The faster this season ended, the sooner he could see Mama again.

.o.o.o.o.

Maora was awoken by a chunk of stone landing on his flattened head. He hissed, rising to shake off the burst of pain that spread along his head and snout. His eyes watered, slit pupils darting around to find the source.

The cave shook again, followed by a snarl and another voice shouting. Some stone fell from the ceiling, one nearly hitting the lizard monster on the head again had he not backpedaled to avoid it.

“What isss going on?” he hissed, his habitual lisp slurring his speech.

More crashing and yelling came from outside the cave. Something was slamming into his hiding place, threatening to bring it crashing down on top of him. Maora could already see dangerous cracks decorating the ceiling. If he stayed here, he could be in real danger soon. He needed to leave, foolish as that may be right now.

How long had he been asleep?

Not long enough. He could taste heat scent on his tongue, pouring from outside of the cave. Whatever was outside was either mating…or fighting to mate.

Whichever the case, it was rather violent. At least one of the participants did not sound happy with the situation.

Maora needed to leave. Preferably now, before the cave collapsed on him. The stone creaked ominously before shuddering from another blow dealt from outside. He maybe had a few minutes left before the whole place comes crashing down on him.

The lizard swiftly scurried to the primary entrance. Two huge shadows were cast on the sand before him. One only snarled and growled. The other was shouting in what sounded like human tongue, mixed with other strange sounds. What strange noises it made.

Maora forced himself not to listen. Whatever this mating pair was arguing about was none of his business. He needed to find a new heat cave and fast, before something found him out in the open and attempted to pounce on him.

He had avoided reproduction for this long. He had no interest in starting now.

Maora moved fast, aiming for the tall grass. The tiny scavengers and other beasts raced away, catching his scent and correlating it with his size to determine that he was nothing worth messing with. He fell back on his speed, legs rotating quickly to carry him across the plain. The longer he was in the open, the more at risk he was.

There! Another cave! It wasn’t as far away from his first as he’d like but it would need to do. He didn’t have any alternatives right now.

He dove inside, tongue flicking in and out to pull in as much scent as possible. The stink of fish and shellfish assaulted him. It was unoccupied right now but the resident hadn’t been gone long. This place was occupied. He could not stay here for very long.

He flinched violently when his long-toed feet skittered through cold metal, sending things crashing from the ornate pile they had been placed in. What was so much gold doing here? It glinted brightly, reflecting the light from above. There was a huge hole in the ceiling that revealed the ocean that ended high above their realm.

This place’s top breached the ocean’s bottom. That meant this was one of the higher points in Lalotai. Most creatures avoided the ocean because they either could not swim or could not breathe underwater. Even he could only swim for a bit, relying on his long breath holding abilities to let him travel between Lalotai and the human realm above them.

Whoever lived here either did not fear the ocean…or lived near it for an easy food source. All the shiny stuff here would be perfect for attracting fish. It wasn’t a bad spot to live if you could defend it properly.

Maora jumped when he heard something big approaching. The stink of shellfish hit him.

The owner! It was back!

Curse his bioluminescence! It would give him away instantly!

Wait! There, the algae! Just like in his old heat cave!

Perhaps he could hide in it. As long as he kept his emotions in check and did not panic, perhaps he could even mute the glow of his scales a bit.

It would have to do. There was no time to find another place to hide.

Maora dove for it, curling around the spiky cage-like plant that grew on that same ledge. Smothering himself in the algae, he flattened himself as much as he could and fell still. He cut his breathing to a minimum and prayed that his rapid heartbeat didn’t give him away. His bioluminescence dwindled to match the algae, if only barely.

Into the cave entered Maora’s worst nightmare.

It was the crab! The one that cut off part of his tail when he was young!

This was its cave? Oh gods, no!

The crab was grumbling, moving its fifty-foot-tall body across the thick sand into the center of its lair. Seeing the pile of gold messed up, it growled and spat bitter human words while it sought to fix the pile. It moved its pincers carefully so as not to damage some of the more delicate treasures.

Perhaps he could slip out now while its back was turned? Did he dare? If he got caught, he may lose more than his tail this time.

He lifted himself only a foot when the crab moved, fussing over its shell. Maora dropped back to the stone beneath him, flat and dull and motionless. Nope, escape was impossible. He’d need to wait until the crab left again.

…But what if it didn’t leave?

Eventually the crab would detect the heat scent in its cave. It would track the scent down to this spot. It would see him. It would kill him.

Maora wanted to cry. He didn’t live this long just to let the same crab that had robbed him of a limb as a youngster kill him.

He wanted Mama.

.o.o.o.o.

“For the love of Ta’aroa,” Tamatoa grumbled. “Stupid scavengers! Sniffing around where they aren’t wanted!”

His treasure was scattered all over the place. The scent of another monster lingered thickly in his cave, mixed with heat scent. Perhaps another looking to try their hand at attracting his attention?

Not the last one had ended well. The accursed beast had jumped him and tried for force him to submit to it. Thankfully, Tamatoa’s shell was so thickly covered with treasure that he hadn’t sustained much damage. Not to mention that his assaulter had no armor of its own, so a few strategic snaps of his pincers had severed muscles and arteries in its limbs.

That particular monster was likely bleeding out somewhere…

Sometimes being both shiny and this beautiful was a curse. Monsters flocked to him from all over during mating season. Sadly, none could hope to compare to his gloriously good looks.

Which was also not exactly a good thing. It made it hard for one to get a good mate, even a temporary one. Exactly the reason he spent most mating seasons buried in the sand deep beneath his cave, sleeping these couple of weeks away.

The giant coconut crab carefully rearranged the pile of treasure until it looked satisfactory again. Then he selected a few pieces to fit onto his shell. That surprise attack had broken some pieces off and he was quite angry about losing those. He’d gathered what he could salvage to bring home but until he could find fitting places, he would need to make do with a few new shiny trinkets and baubles.

Now onto what injuries he had gotten. There weren’t many, most just deep grooves from claws. His vulnerable flesh was thankfully undamaged. It was his shell and legs that worried him. Nothing looked too bad but he wasn’t going to risk losing another leg because he got careless.

It wasn’t like he could molt his shell now, not with all this beautiful treasure attached to it! That would be such a waste!

As Tamatoa went about carefully treating his shell and legs, he kept an eye out for any intruders. Mating season was hazardous, what with how many monsters roamed about in search of relief from the urge to mate. Everything became dangerous.

He’d been jumped once. Surely it could happen again. But not on his watch, of course!

Curiosity was a horrid thing, though.

Despite the scent slowly fading, Tamatoa was curious about the creature that had passed through his cave. Not many dared to just waltz into his cave, not with his reputation. The crab tended to eat most things that entered his cave without his permission. Either this intruder was very brave…or very stupid.

It really could go either way.

Once his wounds had been treated, he rearranged his treasure pile again. He’d found some truly wonderful things on his trip out before that run-in earlier. He kept the location marked as somewhere to treasure hunt again in the near future. There were quite a few human wrecks in that area and humans always had shiny things with them.

…Was that algae looking at him?

Tamatoa paused, only one eyestalk having noticed the strange shift in color of the glowing algae patch in the corner. The other eyestalk swiveled to join it, both now watching that spot. He could’ve sworn that he’d seen it blink. Did algae blink?

He’d never noticed. He didn’t pay much attention to the stuff that grew in his cave.

But now he noticed. He watched it, not daring to blink himself in case he missed it.

Now that he was watching, he noticed the patch of green at its center that seemed much brighter than the rest. And…two spots that looked lighter green. If he squinted, he could almost make out a shape.

“…You can’t be serious right now, right?”

Tamatoa turned to the patch and saw it flinch. His guess was right. The intruder hadn’t left. His intruder was right there, hidden in the algae, trying desperately not to move under the crab’s stare.

Tamatoa smiled crookedly. Was today ever his lucky day?

“And why are you in here, _mon poisson_?”

.o.o.o.o.

Oh gods, it could see him. The crab could see him. Oh gods, no! No!

Maora shivered violently, his scales flashing brighter green in response. If the crab hadn’t seen him before, it definitely could see him now. There was no hiding here.

An even crueler truth hit him. He recognized that mix of human tongues. It was one of the voices that had been shouting outside of his heat cave earlier. How ironic that he’d run straight into its cave while trying to escape it…

“I can see you, you know. Please stop hiding. It’s not doing you any good, _petit intrus_ ,” the crab said.

Maora shuddered before slowly rising. At least he got the small satisfaction of seeing the crab back up a step, smile dropping when it saw his full size. Though only ten feet shorter, he was by no means small.

The crab’s smile quickly came back, along with its pincers clicking. “Well, well, we~ll! If it isn’t the _petit lézard_ that ran afoul of me a few hundred years ago! I remember you!”

Maora wasn’t sure whether that was a good or bad thing. He slowly rose up on his legs, back arched, scales rising in defense. His lips peeled back to reveal the hundreds of needle-sharp teeth that his jaws contained. Though the glowing of his scales sent one message, his vicious display sent another.

_I’m searching for a mate. Anyone interested?_

_Get near me and I will bite your head off._

The crab chuckled, amused.

Maora felt offended. How dare this crab laugh at him?

“Babe, I’ve dealt with things more vicious than you today. You really think a few teeth and some raised scales frighten me?” it teased him. “I’m Tamatoa, babe! I’m not afraid of anything down here!”

Tamatoa. Now he had a name to fix to the nightmarish monster in his memories.

“I apologizzzze for intruding on your lair. I will leave,” Maora growled, slowly shuffling to the side and inching down the ledge, never taking his eyes off of Tamatoa.

“Leaving so soon? But we just got reacquainted, babe,” the crab said.

Maora dared to shift his gaze toward the exit. It wasn’t far away. If he took off right now, he could outrun Tamatoa and be halfway across that plain before the crab could even react. He’d go straight home to Mama. He’d find a new heat cave on the other end of Lalotai, far from this place so that he’d never run into this creature again.

He never should’ve looked away from Tamatoa.

Maora hissed, a shrill screech escaping him. A pincer locked around his throat while the other caught him around the base of his tail, keeping the main weapons of his anatomy from striking the crab. That didn’t stop Maora from thrashing, swiping with his clawed legs in the hopes of landing a blow.

Tamatoa held him a good distance away, scanning him over with those eye stalks. The crab hummed some kind of stupid tune before smiling. Maora hissed, a grunt escaping him when the pressure on his throat increased.

“Tell me, _mon petit lézard_ , your scent is rather familiar. It couldn’t have been you that that monster I encountered earlier across the plain was initially looking for, could it? Your scent certainly matches that one, babe.”

Those feelers of its danced over Maora’s stomach, making the lizard hiss bitterly. His scales grew brighter green. He wanted to kill the crab so much now. How dare it inspect him like some piece of meat and ask such embarrassing questions?

“Not going to answer me, babe?” Tamatoa inquired.

“Let me go. Mama will kill you.”

“Mama?” Tamatoa paused. “…Oh, her. Yeah, I don’t think so. Why would she kill me when I haven’t even put a scratch on you?”

Maora snarled, thrashing violently. “Liar! Tail! Took my tail!”

“Whoa, babe! Settle down! I might pop your head off by mistake! Good Ta’aroa…”

Some stiffening of those pincers forced Maora to straighten, body held rigid to avoid any further thrashing. That didn’t stop his teeth from snapping violently or his eight legs from swiping. He was the picture of blood thirst and violence.

Oh, if he could just sink his claws into that crab!

“Wow, babe, you’re quite a spitfire. I find that rather attractive in someone smaller than me,” Tamatoa teased. “Though…your coloring is rather exquisite, _mon petit lézard_. I haven’t seen anyone with green bioluminescence in many hundreds of years…”

“Let go! Kill you!”

“Babe, I sincerely doubt you could kill me. On that note, can you stop screaming? I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m just making sure you can’t hurt me.”

“Liar!”

“Babe, I’d know if I was lying. I’m not. Stop it. Now.”

It wasn’t that Maora stopped thrashing because the crab told him to. It was exhaustion. He was tired. It had been a long, horrible day. It was just coincidence that his struggles ceased when the crab told him to. Maora would never say he did what the crab said.

“There. Better? If I put you down, will you not run away from me?” Tamatoa asked.

Maora refused to respond.

“Fine. Make this hard on me.”

Maora’s insides felt like they shifted when the crab turned abruptly and scuttled deeper into its cave. The pincer on his tail released and his lowermost back legs could feel sand under them. A sharp snap made him jump briefly, scales rising in terror.

For a moment, he was certain that his neck had been broken.

Then the cave rapidly grew dark and Maora realized it was not his neck that had snapped. The ocean above was being covered by some moveable portion of the ceiling. The algae and treasure lit up in the darkness, casting bursts of vibrant color in the blackness of Tamatoa’s cave.

He was painfully aware of how bright he looked now with his bright green scales and his light green slit-pupil eyes. The shades of green that swam across the canvas of his scaly skin made him stick out horribly in the dark. If one looked hard enough, they could see stories told through images on his skin, moving as if they were alive.

Mama had loved making his skin the most when she made him. He was a living record of Lalotai’s legacy.

The stories could only really be seen in the dark.

.o.o.o.o.

Tamatoa had seen many colors across the bioluminescent spectrum in his thousands of years of life in Lalotai. Blue, purple, pink, red, gold, cyan, and the list went on.

Green was a rare one.

Green was the color of life. It was the color of Te Fiti, the creator of all life in the human realm.

The only shades of green in Lalotai were ugly seaweed and kelp greens, the deep and putrid greens that could be mixed with the rest of the darkened color scheme of the realm of monsters. The only bright greens were present in some of the plantlike predators that used it to lure prey in. Beyond those, only the algae boasted such a vibrant color of green.

This lizard monster—what was its name again? Moray or something?—was clearly not built to lure things in. This was a meek, withdrawn beast that actively hunted smaller prey. Probably scavengers and the stray Kakamora that ended up down in Lalotai, judging from the scent his feelers could detect around the monster’s jaws. This was not an ambush predator of any kind, if Tamatoa had to guess.

So why would their maker, Lalotai’s maker, have this monster bear green bioluminescence?

It made no sense. This monster stuck out in the dark above all other things in the realm. Everyone could spot him. And during a season like this, he would be one of the easiest things to locate unless he hid extremely well. Granted, the algae idea would have been excellent if Tamatoa hadn’t spotted the blinking and the subtle shade difference.

Now that he was really looking at his companion’s—because he certainly was not Tamatoa’s prey—skin, he could see that the green was actually moving. Darker shades painted moving pictures while lighter shades drifted by in bright blobs that were eye-catching to any spectator. It was like watching a scene unfold before your eyes, painted on the glowing skin of a forty-foot-long lizard monster.

Tamatoa’s own bioluminescence was active now in the pitch black of his cave, blue and pink markings stationary on his skin. His treasure was now a vibrant light blue, contrasting with the thick patches of glowing green algae that covered the ledges and walls in places.

None of it matched up to the beauty of the lizard’s skin.

Tamatoa was torn.

He was jealous of this lizard, of Hine-nui-te-po’s pet, and his beautiful storytelling scales. Perhaps even jealous of the unique color, the vibrant cheery green. Blue and pink weren’t uncommon bioluminescent colors in Lalotai. In some deep part of him, it reminded him of the tattooed skin of a certain demigod that he’d once befriended long ago.

On the other hand—pincer, really—he was somehow attracted to what he saw. The green was enchanting and, with his pincer locked around the lizard’s throat, he could say that their four shades mixed together quite well. Green, black, pink, and blue looked lovely. Even the soft blue of his treasure looked good against the green.

And really, the lizard didn’t look half bad. Long and scrawny, sure. No amount of defensive armor, yes. Plenty of teeth and wickedly-sharp claws, absolutely. But those eyes, slit pupils and soft green coloring, stuck out against the green bioluminescence of his scales.

Perhaps he wasn’t the best looking creature in Lalotai…but here in the dark, he was gorgeous!

Maybe it was just the stink of pheromones in his cave. Maybe it was the fact that really, Tamatoa hadn’t mated in many decades, if not a few hundred years. He couldn’t be sure.

What he could be sure of was this—he had quite the handsome monster in his pincers and he wasn’t letting it go just yet.

.o.o.o.o.

Why was it still staring at him?

Maora had waited to be put down. The cave was dark and he could no longer locate the exit, blocked just as the ceiling’s ocean view had been. Tamatoa had no reason to not release him, what with his loud green scales on full bioluminescent display giving away his location.

Yet the crab kept his pincer at Maora’s neck, loose but there.

The lizard did not dare to try and yank himself free. He knew how powerful this pincer was. He’d lost the lower portion of his tail to this crab. He knew it would take only a bit of added pressure to decapitate him.

Yet Tamatoa did not tighten or loosen his grip on Maora.

It was making Maora uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to balancing on his lowermost hind legs for so long. Granted, Tamatoa’s pincer provided some support but it didn’t kill the discomfort of dangling by his neck while his weak back legs fought to support the rest of his vertical weight, extra legs and all.

Why was the crab staring at him? He wasn’t that interesting.

Then again, maybe Tamatoa was following the stories that danced across his scales. Some monsters did that.

He really wished the crab would put him down and then stare. This was really uncomfortable. He even braced his uppermost front limbs on the pincer to try and alleviate his weight, to no avail.

At least he could breathe comfortably. The pincer wasn’t restricting his breathing anymore.

Not to mention the stench in the cave. Heat scent had drenched most everything here. Maora tried not to let that affect him. Most of it was his own scent, but he could detect the underlying scent of Tamatoa’s own heat.

Most monsters in Lalotai tended to synch their heat cycles to roughly the same time of year. There was only a rare few that deviated from this. That way, mating season was completed within the same set of weeks for most everyone and life returned to normal for the rest of the year.

A blessing and a curse, it seems.

Tamatoa was in heat. So was Maora. And they were trapped in a cave together with no other monsters around.

Maora could already predict the hundreds of ways that this could end badly.

Primary among them was a battle to the death wherein one or both of them died. If anyone lived, it would probably be Tamatoa. Besides being bigger and heavier, he had more armor to defend himself with. Maora was all flesh and scales, painfully squishy compared to the hard carapace that the crab boasted. He’d stand no chance if there was a fight between them.

Secondarily was a scenario just as unsettling to think about. Maora forced his mind away from it. He didn’t want to imagine anything involving mating between them.

The lizard was torn from his thoughts when the crab moved, the lizard being forced backward. He bristled when his back touched the stone of the cave wall.

What was going on? Why did Tamatoa move? Was he going to die?

“Babe, darling, _mon beau lézard_ ,” the crab said all too close to the lizard’s ear.

Maora shivered. He didn’t like that sultry tone that the crab was using. Or how close Tamatoa was getting to the lizard, shell pressing against his chest. Maora shrunk back as far as he could.

“Pleasssse don’t,” Maora croaked, suddenly deeply afraid.

“I won’t hurt you, babe,” Tamatoa said. “But I think you know exactly what this season entails. I’ve gone through it…but it seems like you haven’t, _mon beau lézard_.”

“Never wanted to. Sssscared,” Maora whimpered, tail coiled against one of his hind legs.

“We can’t all run forever, babe. Eventually someone will catch you, whether you want them to or not. At least if it happens, let the first time be the best memory you have,” the crab said gently. “I may not have the best reputation, _mon beau lézard_ …but I can be gentle with those I want to.”

“Why?” Maora asked.

Now that he was totally focused on the crab, he could see the allure. Tamatoa’s skin darkened to a coal black except for patches on his face, legs, and pincers, which became vibrant shades of deep pink and dark blue. Even his eyes and feelers lit up, shifting colors. It was rather beautiful to look at, if one didn’t know what Tamatoa was capable of.

Though bioluminescence was used to attract mates, it could also be used to attract prey.

Maora didn’t want to be prey.

With the pincer removed from his throat now, he didn’t feel like prey. More like a child who’d stepped into the adult world.

“Because everyone’s first time should be memorable, preferably for all the right reasons,” Tamatoa replied with a glowing smile. “And babe, _mon beau lézard_ …someone as gorgeous as you are…deserves a good first time.”

Maora felt his scales brighten, heat spreading over the scales of his face. He curled in on himself, but this time it wasn’t out of fear. It was out of some form of elation.

Nobody but Mama had ever called him gorgeous.


End file.
